


writing on the wall

by fiveyaaas



Series: In Another Life [11]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (between leonard and vanya), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Politics, Angst, Character Death, Complicated Relationships, Cunnilingus, Drug Use, Established Relationship, F/M, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Inspired by Scandal (TV), M/M, Multi, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Protective Allison Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Recreational Drug Use, References to Scandal (TV), Smut, Vaginal Sex, does not follow the canon of scandal at all, it’s more just the general Vibe ™️ i’m going for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:42:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28836507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas
Summary: When Allison ran for president, she’d never expected any of this to happen.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves, Number Six | Ben Hargreeves/Klaus Hargreeves
Series: In Another Life [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868005
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rappaccini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rappaccini/gifts).



> Dedicating this to rappaccini, who listened to me rant about Scandal a bunch when I recently binge-watched it. She ALSO enabled me to write this AU. 
> 
> Trigger warning for: drug abuse, alcoholism, references to past abuse (with Leonard), murder, and major character death(s). If any of these bother you, please do not read! None of it will be super intense (besides character deaths), but I also don’t want my writing to be upsetting to anybody! Please NEVER read fics if they’re triggering to you, ever. Closing out of fics is the healthy thing to do, sometimes. 💕
> 
> That being said, I hope you guys enjoy this fic!!!

**Five Years Before**

“Did you tell her to run?”

Five frowns, turning around and glancing down when he realizes the woman is a good foot and a half shorter than him. “Who are you?”

“Allison’s maid of honor,” she snaps, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re Luther’s twin, right?”

He raises his brows. “Yes. Why are you assaulting me?”

“I’m not assaulting you,” she snaps. 

“Okay, well, have a nice time at the party, dear. Though, why anybody would throw a party for their  _ engagement  _ is beyond me.”

“It’s important,” the woman sneers. “Every single one of her constituent’s complaints have revolved around her likability. You wouldn’t understand that, but it’s an important part of her-“

“Campaign,” he finishes. “I know that.” 

She starts to leave, but he’s intrigued, “How do you know Allison?”

One of her eyes twitches, and he hides a smile. He imagines that Luther is going to force him to be civil, considering she’s clearly important to Allison, but this has been the most interesting echange of his night (surprisingly, the elected officials of Indiana  _ aren’t  _ the best conversationalists, who’d have thought?) Something about the way her nose scrunches up in annoyance makes him want to continue talking to her. 

“We went to school together.” 

“Smith? That explains what you were about to rant-“

“Rant?”

Luther is going to kill him if he’s a dick to her. “I’m sorry,” he tries bemusedly, imagining Luther’s  _ ‘I’m not mad, just disappointed’  _ speech to keep the bastard qualities at bay. Plus, he’s 90% certain this would end much more enjoyably if he’s less of an ass. “So you went to Smith together?” 

She stiffens suddenly. “I have to go,” she mutters, bypassing him. He finds himself following her with his eyes, watching the way she winces when she sees the man she’s walked to. An unsettled feel hits his chest, but he says nothing for the rest of the night, figuring it wasn’t worth it to look further, that he was thinking too much into it in the first place.

* * *

**Four Years Before**

Allison ends her re-election campaign the same year she loses the baby. It’s a week before the wedding, and she’d only been a month pregnant. She announces in a daze that she will not finish the race in the middle of a rally when she sees a pro-life woman’s sign calling her a ‘baby-killer’, and Ben and Five are barking in her ear when she gets off the stage, asking her what the fuck that was about. 

“I had a miscarriage last week,” Allison hisses when they’re piling into the car. “And I just got called a murderer of infants. Do the math, Five. It’s your fucking specialty, right?”

Five, for once, is speechless. 

Ben, however, says, “Well, clearly, they were talking about your stance on abor-“

“Oh, Jesus fucking Christ, shut  _ up.”  _

Five isn’t subtle, the way his head turns to Vanya like she’s his source of gravity. Vanya has never been particularly vulgar, but, as she settles into the seat beside Five, she goes on a tirade, “If that bitch’s mother had gotten an abortion, Allison wouldn’t have resigned-“

_ “Vanya!”  _ Five sounds scandalized, which shocks a little laughter out of Allison. He only ever acts upset when it’s _ Vanya _ saying these things, and she imagines it’s because, before she’d lost Leonard, she’d not been this way. She’s not quite the same anymore, drinking at all hours and sleeping around and trying drugs she didn’t know the names of at parties for politician’s kids. (Did that make Allison her surrogate mother, then?)

“Alright, I’m not the only one thinking this right-“

“You’re undoubtedly the only one of us thinking some random person’s mother should’ve had an abortion.” At Five’s words, Ben throws his hands up, leaning against the seats, not wanting to hear them bicker. 

Vanya, however, manages to silence them all. “I think you should run for president.”

When she gets blank stares, she takes out a cigarette, lighting it quickly and taking a long drag. “Okay, hear me out. I  _ will  _ try cocaine if you guys don’t give me another outlet to handle my bereavement.” 

Allison, having heard this for the fifth time this week, says, “You can’t play the dead husband card again, Vanya. Also, nobody responds to their husband dying by doing cocaine, and you need to stop threatening that to your therapist too, while we’re at it.”

Vanya grabs a flask, gulping down a few swigs before arguing, “The grieving process is different for everybody. In fact, everything is different for everybody. For example, I was told that most people would die when they toss a few xanax into their-“

Five grabs the flask from her, pouring the possibly deadly concoction out the window. “No more day drinking.”

Vanya glares, “Presidency.”

“You’re trying to say that you will become an alcoholic if I don’t convince Allison to become president.”

“Don’t act like the word ‘ _ gerrymandering’  _ doesn’t get you hard on the spot. Think of all the statistical trends regarding the disenfranchisement of voters, Five. Think of the fact that I threw up in your closet last week. I’ll do it again, don’t think I won’t.”

“She’s not going to just run for-“

Allison interrupts Ben, “Why do you want me to be president?” 

“You can’t seriously be considering-“

Vanya pipes up, staring at Allison. “It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Vanya, that was before-“

“Do it.”

“She’s not going to-“

“Five, you know how you haven’t gotten me and Luther a wedding present?”

Ben looks like he’s about to have an aneurysm, but Five just raises his brows. “I’ll do it,” he tells her. “But it’s  _ not  _ because of Vanya’s manipulations.”

Vanya, who’d found another flask, makes no remark, screwing up her face for only a second before downing the entire thing. 

“Prepare how to fix what just happened, and then we’ll file.”

* * *

**Three Years Before**

“You’re not out, are you?”

Ben flinches, glancing both ways for possible people listening in before turning to the reporter beside him. “What are you implying?” 

His lips curve into a smirk, blue eyes flashing. “I think you know.”

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating,” Ben breathes, backing into the wall. “But this is not-“

“Are you free tonight?”

“Yes.” 

* * *

**Two Years Before**

Any scandal could make or break them. 

When the RNC confirms Allison’s opponent is the father of the man Five killed, he doesn’t betray a thing at all. He tells a reporter, “I do not deny that Governor Hargreeves has a lot of work to do, but, truly, it’s up to the American people will decide who our next president will be. And I have no doubt that she’ll do her job well.”

There is an easy smile on his face as he speaks the rest of the night and schmoozes money out of lobbyists, but his eyelids close for just a second and they’re painted with Vanya’s bruised body. Of the promise he made to get her away. 

Of the night they’d met, and she’d been scared of Leonard, and he’d dismissed it. 

She grabs his arm now, and they hide inside the walls of an elevator that she hits the emergency stop button on. Neither of them speak when she starts to sob, sinking to the ground beside him until he crouches down and takes her into his arms. 

“What if they-“

“They won’t.” He says it in Russian, flicking his eyes to the camera inside of the elevator quickly for her to realize that this isn’t a completely safe space to talk. 

“Did you really do it?”

Five doesn’t answer, and she nods, understanding why. 

“I need to get out of here,” she announces, and he nods, going to set the elevator back before he realizes she’s unbuttoning her top. He moves away from the controls, already lifting her up and pressing her to the wall. It’s stress relief, for both of them, he’s pretty certain. 

Neither of them ever bothers to clarify with one another. 

“Do you think anybody in there knows?”

She’s asking if anybody in the campaign knows about how he’d killed her husband, and he snorts, “I thought we kept this quiet.” 

He’s aware there’s probably something wrong, using their relationship for anybody that might possibly be listening in to detract from what they’re really talking about. Sex probably wouldn’t stick out as much as murder, in most constituent’s eyes. 

Well, sex for  _ them  _ wouldn’t stick out as much, at least. 

“I think Allison suspects—”

Her breath hitches as he moves his head between her legs, hooking his fingers to her underwear and tugging them off. Five’s voice likely sounds ragged as he asks, “Has anybody from the campaign tried to contact you? As the wife of his dead son?”

She’s silent for a breath, and he presses his tongue inside of her, savoring her taste before moving to flick against her clit. “Five, we shouldn’t—  _ oh.” _

He moves his tongue from her, “You going to be a problem for this campaign, Vanya?”

She’s unsteady on her legs, and he clutches her thighs, keeping her steady and going back to her cunt while he waits for her to answer. 

“I’m n…”

He smirks, knowing she’s already gone incoherent. This had begun soon after her husband had been killed, and they had an agreement to tell no one. Primarily because she’d fucked him immediately upon realizing that he’d killed her husband.

“Is that a no,  _ moya lyubimaya?”  _

Five keeps his head tilted upwards to see her blush. “Your Russian is awful,” she hisses, pushing him between her legs. “You speak it like a substitute teacher in Texas.”

“So specific,” Five quips, kissing her thigh. 

“Five, there’s something I need to tell you.”

He glances up, concerned by her serious tone. “What is it, Vanya?”

Her expression is the same as the first night he’d met her. After she’d gone back to Leonard, knowing he would hurt her. “I—” She breaks off, sobbing, and Five stands up, pulling her into his arms. 

“What do you need?” he grunts.

“Harold’s father will be a problem.” She says nothing else, and Five doesn’t ask her to, already calculating ways to fix this for Allison (and, more importantly, keep Vanya safe from whatever she is clearly worried about). 

“We’ll fix it.” It’s his job to fix problems, after all. 

* * *

**One Year Before**

Allison stops by Five’s side at her Inauguration. 

“I know what you did,” she tells him. 

Five stares at her, looking carefully bored. “You should be thankful, Madame President,” he comments, glancing to where Vanya is talking to her husband. “I did it for both of you.”

“You can’t let her know. Ever.”

He rolls his eyes, tugging at his tie. It’s a nervous tell, something she knows he doesn’t even notice.“Won’t be a problem, Allison.”

“And you won’t tell Luther either.”

When he embraces her, a thousand cameras flashing over them, he mutters in her ear, “It really was to protect her, but my lips are sealed.”

“You love her, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. Now stand by Luther. I don’t want to hear reports in the morning implying you’re cheating on my twin.”

She grins. He doesn’t want to hear them because they’ll be a pain in the ass to clean up.

* * *

**The Present**

Ben flicks off the news, watching Five wince as he stares at the screen. Glaring at him, he asks, “And you knew about this?”

“Of course I did, Ben. How could I not?”

“You’re not telling me everything,” he accuses. They’re alone. Vanya is probably at her home. “Does she know that you killed Leonard?”

Five sighs, not trying to deny it. “Yes.”

“There’s something else, though. You did something even worse. What did you do?”

“I would do anything to protect Vanya.”

“That’s not really an answer, is it?”

He reaches into his pocket and lights a cigarette. “It’s the only answer you’re ever going to get from me.”

“Five, they’re going to uncover what you did, and they’re going to uncover everything else.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I know how to handle it, then, isn’t it?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting!!! Also, I have changed the Benkliego tag to Horrance because I’m trying to figure out if I’d rather have it be endgame Alluego instead of engame Benkliego. As of this point, I’m not sure, so I just have Fiveya, Alluther, and Horrance tagged. I’ll look into it further, though, before the next update.

**The Present**

Vanya talks in her sleep. 

Five had realized this years ago, but she denies it every time he points it out, claiming that he’s just hearing things. At this point, though, hearing her mutter to herself in her sleep while he writes a speech (that she’ll have to give to the press sometime today) is a comfort. He pets his best friend’s bare thigh while he works, trying to decipher if anything she says makes sense. 

She’ll have an interview after she talks about her deceased husband, possibly talking about how much of a stand-up guy he’d been, depending on if she wants to look like the clueless, doting widow or a woman horrified at finding out what her husband had been. Though Five knows that she’d be lying through her teeth to save face (should she choose the latter), it’ll be awful to watch her try not to flinch each time they ask about their marriage. Nobody would ever suspect that Vanya had known who her husband’s murderer was for the past four and a half years, and it’s necessary that she keep this facade, if she takes the second option. 

If she ever asked, though, he would admit to what he’d done to the entire world. He knows how much pain it causes her to talk about Leonard, and it isn’t like Five worries he’ll go to prison. Sure, the general public will hate him, and it will reflect poorly on Allison…

Allison. _Fuck._

Dialing up his sister-in-law’s phone number, he glances to Vanya, reminding himself that Allison will understand, since he’d done this for her. She and Vanya are still as close as they’ve always been, but he doesn’t even know if Vanya knows that she knows what he’d done. 

He lights a cigarette, patiently waiting for her to pick up. It’s a direct line, but she might be asleep at this point. It is, after all, only four in the morning. 

Of course, just as he has the comforting thought that he’s not going to be verbally assaulted by her, she hollers into the phone, “Five, what the _fuck?”_

Five winces. 

“Is Vanya okay?”

Translation: _do you have a speech prepared for her yet?_

“She will be.” 

Translation: _I’m getting it done now, you fucking control freak._

Sighing, Allison tells him, “I was so stunned to hear the news. Who would have thought?”

“Yeah, you’d have never suspected. He seemed like such a stand-up guy.” Even though he is saying these words, aware that anybody could be listening in, he speaks in a monotone. “Plus, all of those new details uncovered… Seems like the killer had a personal vendetta, considering that castration… Looks like they used garden shears to me.”

His sister-in-law might be struggling not to laugh. Or cry. He’s not really sure. “Maybe it was someone related to one of his victims.”

“Do you think that Vanya is going to say that she never suspected a thing?”

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’s asking, and he can sense the sadness in Allison’s tone. “I hope that she speaks the truth, honestly. Now that it’s been partially uncovered.”

“Some things have to remain private, of course, though.”

“Well, yeah.” _You can’t let anybody know that she’d wanted her husband dead all along, and you especially can’t let her suggest that you were the one who finally got around to killing him._ “I hope that she’s okay.”

“I do too.” 

This is a completely true sentiment, of course. 

Vanya rises up from her pillows, and he mouths, ‘Allison.’ 

She snatches the phone from his grasp, asking, “Can I come see you, please?”

* * *

Her husband is just starting to stir into consciousness when Vanya pads into her room, ignoring the Secret Service agent behind her, who is red in the face. She’s long since been cleared to come to Allison and Luther’s room whenever she wants, and Allison just shoots him a look, clearly conveying that Vanya is in the right for coming to her. Allison is pretty certain that Diego is just flummoxed that this tiny, loud Russian lady is truly her best friend. 

“You okay?” Allison asks, not bothering to get more dressed than she already is. Luther is completely naked beside her, and she gets a little bit of a kick out of the way that Diego is trying so hard to remain completely blank-faced. “I saw the news last night.”

“I want a drink.”

“You can’t have a drink, V.”

“I know, but I _want_ one.”

Allison shrugs, figuring that’s fair. When Vanya climbs onto her bed, she can tell Diego is ready to say something, but Allison just pulls her into her arms, playing with her friend’s hair. 

“This room seems to be a waste of taxpayer money,” Vanya comments, yawning and leaning into her touch, like a cat. “There are also no mementos of our friendship here. I rate it three out of ten.”

Smiling at her, she asks, “Where’s Five?”

“On his way, I think. Probably didn’t want to see Luther naked. I don’t understand why, though, since they’re twins.”

 _“Fraternal_ twins. They don’t look anything alike.”

“Surely their mother didn’t bathe them separately.” 

“Why are you talking about my mother bathing me?” Luther asks, gaping at her blearily. “Also, why are you on Allison and I’s bed? Haven’t we had this discussion before? About boundaries?”

“You should make that your platform,” Vanya chirps. “Rather than education or whatever, Mr. First Gentleman.”

“Vanya, it’s not insulting to be called the First Gentleman, you know.”

“It’s not that you’re the First Gentleman I’m insulting; it’s the fact that you’re a _trophy husband.”_

“Oh my god, Vanya, you can’t walk into Allison’s room and terrorize her husband. We talked about this.” Though Five is supposedly reproaching her, he’s clearly amused, based on the way his eyes are dancing. “Also, Luther, I have given you an adequate time to get dressed. Why are you not dressed yet?”

“I’m not going to put on clothes in front of _Vanya.”_

“It’s alright, Luther. I’ve seen your penis before. Pretty sure everyone in this room has.” She turns her head. “Diego, you’ve seen his penis, right?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in shock?” Luther remarks. He’s long since figured out what had happened, and it’s pretty clear to Allison that he’s trying to subtly remind Vanya that she has to act stoic and somber at the news of her husband. 

Vanya, however, doesn’t take kindly to being told what to do. “Over what? Finding out that my late husband killed a bunch of women that looked like me or finding out that he was tortured before he kicked the bucket?” She shrugs, loudly announcing, “Good riddance, I say!”

Allison frowns at her. “Have you already had a drink?”

“Nah. Though I may have popped a few Valium on my way here.” She lays back, staring at the wall. “You think he suffered, Allison? I hope he suffered.”

Five is staring at Vanya, an expression on his face that Allison recognizes from years ago, the one he used to constantly wear when Vanya had been breaking down. Allison meets his gaze, and he offers a slow, subtle nod. 

“You shouldn’t say that,” Allison says, but it sounds strained to her own ears. “At least not during the interview you give today.”

* * *

Ben _hates_ that he’s constantly out of the loop. 

Especially when a reporter is blowing him in hopes of getting information that he would _only_ have if he was _in_ the loop. 

“Klaus, I’m telling you,” he groans. “I don’t know anything.”

He takes him deeper in response. 

_“Fuck.”_

Of course, just when he’s contemplating lying about what he knows, he gets a phone call. Sighing, he picks it up, and Klaus pulls away from him, climbing up to his side and setting his head on his shoulder. 

“Five, if this isn’t important, I’m going to _kill_ you.”

“Is it the reporter?” When Ben doesn’t answer for a few moments, he adds, _“Nice._ Anyways, Allison and I need you.”

“No.”

“You can’t say ‘no’ to Allison. She’s the president. Pretty sure that’s illegal, Ben.”

“It is _not_ illegal.”

“Sounds like you’re committing treason to me.”

“I’m about to be committing murder.”

Five snorts. “You wouldn’t kill me. I’m too pretty. Too delicate. Like a porcelain—”

“Stop talking.”

“Ben, at some point, you’re going to have to admit to yourself that you’re in love with me.”

“Vanya would be jealous.”

“Vanya would ask for a threeway.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me. Now haul ass over here. If you want, you can take your reporter, but he’s not going to get anything other than the truth.”

“Oh, yeah, and what’s that?”

“That Vanya is finally ready to talk about some of the more hush hush details about her marriage, and that she’s _not_ willing to talk about her thoughts on the recently dug up information about Leonard and skewed autopsy reports.”

“Fuck.” Ben lets the information soak in, and, ever the opportunist, asks him, “Hey, would you happen to be okay swapping out who interviews her?”

“You’re a dirty, dirty slut, Ben.” He sighs when Ben doesn’t say anything for a few moments. “I’ll ask Vanya if she’s okay with it, though.”

Klaus glances up at him when he hangs up. 

“Who was that?”

“I got you a job,” Ben tells him smugly, and Klaus raises his brows. “You want to interview Vanya?”

“Yeah, sure.” Klaus kisses him. “Thank you, Ben.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Even though he knows that Klaus is probably not in this for the same reasons as him, he has no problem trying to please him. When Klaus pulls away, though, he feels an ache that he can’t quite explain. 

Or, well, he can, but he’s much too busy to assess it. 

“You treat me well,” Klaus snarks.

Ben raises his brows. “Wanna thank me for it?”

Without any argument, Klaus goes back to kneeling in front of him, taking Ben’s cock into his hand and guiding it back to his mouth. 

* * *

Offering Ben a cigarette once Klaus begins to interview Vanya, Five asks, “You think he actually likes you?”

“Does it matter?”

Five smirks around his own cigarette. “And you call _me_ a whore?”

“Not as much now. Not since…” He tilts his head in Vanya’s direction. They’re far back from the cameras, but they’re still in the room, aware that Vanya may need them. Klaus continues to offer up prodding questions that all of social media has been asking as well, but Five can’t exactly be irritated with him, not when he is doing his job. 

Certainly there had been a few times he’d stepped on a few toes with his own. 

“She’s doing remarkably well,” Ben notes, and Five cocks his head to the side, watching her tear up as she answered a particularly difficult question. “Why are her pupils so dilated, though?”

Of _course_ Ben had already noticed. “She technically has a prescription.”

“For as much as she took?”

“Vanya’s trying her best.” He sighs, inhaling his cigarette more deeply, thankful this shit is outside and that nobody has tried to pull it from his hand yet. “You’ve always avoided questions about Klaus.”

“What’s your point?”

He shrugs. “Do _you_ actually like _him?”_

“I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that question.”

Ben studies Klaus, dressed in a suit that has clearly been chosen by his work (though he has made a point to frequently wear skirts and dresses, as well, and his station is fine with it as long as they’re modest enough). Five wonders, again, if Klaus only sleeps with him because he wants to get ahead in his career. He wouldn’t exactly blame the guy, but it’d still piss him off that he was using Ben’s (very obvious) feelings that way. 

“Are you in love with him?”

“I don’t know, Five.”

“How much longer do you think this interview is?”

“Not sure. Wanna sit down?”

“Yeah.”

They find a bench for themselves, both deep in thought. 

Killing Leonard was something he hadn’t ever thought that deeply about. He’d had someone botch the autopsy, so nobody had ever looked that far into it. It was only upon some… complications with Leonard’s father that anybody had tried to look that far into it. Five doesn’t _mind_ that he’d killed him, and he’d do it again. The problem is that all of this coming to light is beginning to trudge up old shit that he’d rather not think about. Vanya hasn’t started isolating herself, not yet, but he knows that it is only a matter of time. She tends to want to deal with everything on her own, and Five doesn’t know how to help her when she gets to the darker places. 

Five wasn’t sure _when_ he fell in love with Vanya, though he knows that it had to have been pretty quick for him, to be willing to kill Leonard so easily. Then again, anybody would have wanted to kill that man if they’d seen the marks on her body. It’s surprising to Five that none of Leonard’s opponents (as he had been a career politician himself) had ever tried to bring up all the shit he’d done, but it hadn’t been public knowledge, he supposed. 

Not until yesterday. Skeletons never do stay in closets for very long.

* * *

“You should take a break today,” Luther suggests. Everyday they eat lunch together. Allison can’t always promise breakfast and dinner, though she sometimes manages to be with him for all three meals a day. Lunch is something sacred between them, at this point, so she has made a point to always be there. It’s something relatively small, but her marriage is important to her. Especially when it’s regularly attacked by the public, as a means to make her look like a bad woman. “I know that you’re tired. Plus, with everything going on… You deserve a day off sometimes.”

“I’ve already worked part of the day,” Allison points out. “I should probably finish it.”

“That’s actually even _more_ reason, in my opinion. You can manage just… I dunno, twelve hours.”

“It does sound nice.” Allison glances down. “What would we even do?”

“We could get a bunch of junk food and binge one of those medical dramas you like.”

Allison smiles. “You think we could convince Diego to watch with us?”

“No idea. Though I’m sure, even if he pretends, he’ll totally be leaning his head in.”

“Bet he’s a McSteamy fan.”

“Undoubtedly. McDreamy is too broody.”

Giggling, she looks over her planner, making sure that there is nothing _that_ pressing that would require her attention. Satisfied that there’s not, she tells him, “This can’t be a regular occurence.”

“I know, Allison.” He leans forward to kiss her. “I just miss my wife.”

“Still your wife.”

“Yeah, but you’re president, too.” Luther shrugs. “And I know that comes first.”

Even though she wants to tell him that that’s not true, wants to assure him that he’ll _always_ be first, as well as the rest of their little family, he’s already rising up, offering his large hand to her. Diego follows behind them, and Allison quietly asks him if he’ll tell her assistant that she’s taking the day off. He nods, asking if she’d like the kitchen to bring her anything, and he only raises his eyebrows when she starts rattling off a bunch of junk food that she and Luther will soon be scarfing down. 

“It’s been so long since we’ve really had a chance to…”

Luther hums in agreement. They pass by a mirror, and Allison tries not to think about how much she has been aged while she’s had this job. Even though Luther isn’t a vapid person, she sometimes wonders if he’s noticed her growing wrinkles too, the gray starting to streak her hair. 

When she pulls him down to kiss her, he doesn’t show any less enthusiasm than ever, but she isn’t reassured until he’s murmuring against her lips, “You’re so beautiful, Allison.”

Smiling lightly, she asks, “Do you think we could spend the day… not watching medical dramas?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I’m okay with that.” 

When her phone starts ringing, informing her that Ben is calling, she doesn’t pick up, letting Luther scoop her up and laughing loudly as he carries her to their room. 

* * *

“Why aren’t you picking up?” Ben complains to Allison’s voicemail box, deciding that he’s not going to bother calling her again. After eighteen tries, he’s gotten the message loud and clear. 

Vanya, picking at a sandwich she’d bought from some street vendor when Five and Ben had looked away for just a second, asks him, “Have you considered it’s because she doesn’t like you?”

“You’re not helpful.” 

She shrugs. 

Five, at her side, tells Ben, “Luther hasn’t answered, either.”

Making a face, Vanya says, “Five, nobody wants to hear about Madame President and her trophy husband.”

“They’re not…” Five frowns. “Okay, they _possibly_ are, but I didn’t see it in their schedule…”

“Luther and Allison schedule sex?” Ben whimpers when Five nods. “That’s so… _clinical.”_

“It’s brilliant, is what it is. So efficient. If Five and I scheduled sex, we’d have much more time freed up.” At Five’s look, Vanya adds, “Spontaneity takes away at least twelve hours a week, Five. I’m just speaking as a busy person.”

“We are _not_ scheduling sex. I’m putting my foot down on that.”

Vanya rolls her eyes. “Boring.”

Ben, having heard too much about _all_ of his closest friends’ sex lives, says, “I think that I want to ask Klaus out. Like… on a proper date. That isn’t just sex in exchange for information. Or interviews. Or expensive, lavish gifts that I’m pretty sure he sells when he gets pissed at me.”

“Can’t blame the man for having a sugar daddy that enables him as much as he does,” Vanya points out, finishing her sandwich and throwing away some napkins into a trash can that they pass by. She tucks her hair behind her ear. “Besides, I don’t think that you can call it a date when you’re in your forties.”

“What am I supposed to call it?”

“A mid-life crisis?” 

Five snorts, and Ben scowls. 

“You know, I find it ironic that _you_ are judging me about _my_ love life,” Ben remarks. “Or do you _actually_ feel superior about whatever the fuck you and Five have going on?”

At the very least, Five looks humbled. Though Vanya just says, “Five and I are fuckbuddies, roommates, and friends. We have all the _good_ parts of a relationship without the annoying parts, like filing taxes together.”

“That’s…”

 _“Plus,_ I, at least, know Five wants to fuck me for reasons other than advancing his career.”

“Yeah, well, at least my guy isn’t a—”

He silences himself before he finishes that sentence, suddenly hyper aware of everybody that could be listening in. Five, for his part, doesn’t look offended, just presses his finger to his lips, silently telling him to not keep talking. Ben’s eyes search around the park, trying to find anybody that might be listening in, feeling anxiety course through him. 

Vanya, taking note of his oncoming panic, cheerily suggests, “Want to go get a sandwich? I know a good vendor around here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If you’d like, please fill out [this survey](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8iaFKvzwkgOKxal7pZHAM3kql9zEPYRJmGwAiJj1gxuDk5w/viewform), which will let me know which fics you guys would like to see updated. My goal is to post three updates to my fics a day for the rest of March and the entirety of April, so, if there are fics you guys are interested in, it would be super helpful to see your responses.💕🥰

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!!!


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